


Battle of the Bands

by Dancing_Bean



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-13
Updated: 2015-04-08
Packaged: 2018-03-17 16:01:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3535481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dancing_Bean/pseuds/Dancing_Bean
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU. Natasha and Clint make a drunken bet that leads to them both forming bands for a charity event. Natasha is smitten, Melinda is exasperated and Phil just wishes they left him out of it</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1: Bet

Saturday night and the bar was packed. Natasha wove her way through the mass of people, skilfully balancing the loaded tray of drinks as she did so. Reaching the corner table where her friends were sat she slid the tray into the middle and plopped down between Steve and Phil. Phil paused in his argument with Clint over baseball and passed Melinda her drink. She smiled briefly then looked at Natasha intensely.

“So tell me about this job you applied for.”

  
Natasha ran a hand through her hair “PA to the CEO of Stark Industries. Sounds like something I could do, definitely a step up from fetching Fury’s coffee and sorting files at the station.”

  
“Hmm...” Melinda nodded “Well you are wasted there. Why not go for dance though?

  
Natasha shrugged. “No money in that. Plus I would rather keep it as a hobby, if it was my job then the joy might get sucked out of it.”

  
Melinda smiled and held out her glass to tap it with Natasha’s “Good luck to you then.”

 

Natasha grinned at the older woman, then poked Steve, encouraging him to get involved in Phil and Clint's 'discussion'.

 

 

A few rounds later, Clint and Natasha were bickering. It was to be expected at this point on a night out. Clint had taken exception to Nat beating him on the quiz machine, and she had not been impressed when he thrashed her at darts. He had tried to entice her into a game of pool, but she had a nasty feeling he would win at that as well so refused. Unfortunately, he knew how to push her buttons...

  
Clint smirked “Anything you can do, I can better” he half sang in her direction.

  
Both Natasha’s eyebrows shot up “Oh, you did not just say that.”

  
He grinned and crooned “I can do anything better than you.”

  
“Bring it, bird brain” Natasha spread her hands in a cocky gesture of confidence, nearly knocking over Steve’s pint. He smoothly moved it to safety with the ease of practice, and then moved hers away as well as a precaution.

  
Clint tapped his chin thoughtfully, looking around the room for inspiration, eyes brightening as his gaze skipped the pool table and landed on the jukebox. “I bet, I bet that I could be a better musician than you.”

  
Natasha chuckled “Clint honey, you’re a drummer. I sing. And...” she pointed at herself “I’m me.”

  
“She has a point” Steve chimed in. Natasha high fived him without taking her eyes off Clint who had a look that suggested a manic plan was being formed in his fairly well lubricated mind.

  
“Ok. I bet that a band formed by moi” he jabbed a thumb in his own chest “would be more successful than one formed by you.”

  
“No. Former points stand. Also, you’re an idiot.”

  
“Am not”

  
“Are too”

  
“So am not”

  
“Children” Melinda said mildly, putting down her empty glass. “Whose round is it?”

  
Steve stood “Mine.” He headed off to the bar, barely showing any signs of the alcohol he had drunk, unlike the rest of the table. Phil looked like he was half asleep, leaning back next to Melinda who was watching Clint and Natasha with an amused expression.

  
Clint drained his glass and waved it vaguely at Nat “Ok. Challenge then. We...” he flapped a hand between them “form bands. Then, we play. Somewhere. With people. And whoever is most popular wins. And you admit that I am the best.” He sat back with a smug smile.

  
Natasha rolled her eyes “Great plan, Clinton. Fabulous. One of your best, actually.”

  
“Stark’s next charity thing” Melinda interjected, smirking as Natasha glared at her. “Just a suggestion. He would go for something this mental as a publicity stunt. Especially if you get hired to work at SI. And you can use the money raised to see who is most popular.”

 

"Why are you encouraging him?" Natasha whined.

  
“Yes!” Clint stood, a little unsteadily “and Phil and Melinda – as completely non musical people - can be in charge. Like music agents! Agent Coulson, how does that sound?”

  
“Like you are insane” Phil grumbled from his slumped position, and poked Melinda “tell him he’s insane and we are not getting involved.”

  
“We are not getting involved” Melinda said, completely deadpan “and you are insane.”

  
“Pfssh, yes you are. Steve!” Clint hollered across the bar, “You’re in my band!”

  
Steve turned with a disbelieving look, and gave him a sarcastic thumbs-up before turning back to the barmaid.

  
“Yep. Awesome.” Clint sat down and smirked at Natasha “You’re going dooown Romanoff.”

  
She just stuck her tongue out at him.

 

 

 

Waking the next morning was painful. Natasha whimpered slightly when she raised her head off the pillow, quickly swallowing the pain meds and water she had left by her bed as a precaution. After a few minutes of staring at her ceiling she felt a little more human and sat up. Vague memories began filtering back from the night and she was petty sure that everyone (apart from Steve – that guy could outdrink a whole squad of marines on his own) would be feeling rough. She smiled - It had been worth it though. They didn’t get to see each other as a group often enough in her opinion. She checked her phone quickly, and seeing a message from Clint she frowned. It wasn’t like him to be up before her. Opening it, she swore quietly:

_Drunk bets are still bets ;) 6 members each, boys v girls and don’t complain, this means you get May. Lookin forward to winning :P Cx_


	2. Chapter 2: recruiting

Once her hangover had subsided to a manageable level, Natasha contacted Melinda.

**Morning :-) Nx**

_Stop being cheerful. I am never going out with you lot again. M_

**You know you love it. Makes you feel young again ;-) Nx**

_Piss off Romanoff_

**Gladly. Once you tell me that Clints idea is not happening Nx**

_Unfortunately operation rockband is a go over here. Ive got 3 v large men downstairs making a lot of noise_

**Crap**

_Yes_

**Coffee? Nx**

_Yes_

 

 

An hour later Melinda walked into the coffee shop, eyes covered with her trademark aviators. Natasha pushed the tall cup of coffee over to her without a word. A few sips later and she sighed, and lifted her glasses to the top of her head.

“I am going to kill him” she stated matter of factly.

“Phil?” Natasha now nudged the remaining half of her cookie over.

“Clint” Melinda ground out, rubbing her forehead “Although Phil may well follow. And Steve, that man has no appreciation of early mornings. Not to mention Barnes...”

“Wow. So he’s really going for it then?”

Melinda levelled a look at her over the rim of her mug. “Have you ever been woken by Steve with an electric guitar? With a hangover?”

Natasha winced and signalled for more coffee.

 

 

Eventually, after plying Melinda with shocking amounts of caffeine and sugar they had hashed out a rough plan. One, if this was happening, and it looked like it was, then they would go for it. No point guaranteeing a loss if you could win. Neither of them was very good at losing. Two, they would wait until after Natasha heard back about her potential job at SI before they approached Stark about the charity event. Melinda had got hold of Phil (who sounded stressed on the phone) and he agreed that was best. Three, as all the musically inclined people that they knew were guys (and had probably been snapped up by Clint) they were going to have to go talent spotting. Which was how Natasha found herself at a bar downtown which was holding a live music night.

 

The large room was filling rapidly, making Natasha glad they had snagged a table with a reasonable view of the area set up with stools and mike stands. Melinda came over with drinks and a programme of the acts playing.

“More alcohol May?” Natasha teased “I'm sure I heard someone swearing never to drink it again. Between coffees five and six I think was.”

“Make it last Romanoff. We are working, remember.” Melinda studied the list she had “Ok, it’s hard to tell the ladies from the gents. We’ve got the imaginatively named Carter/Hill/McCarthy first.”

“Ladies” Natasha sang out gleefully watching the three musicians make their way out and start setting up.

 

They looked to range from early to mid twenties, and appeared to know what they were doing, both pluses as far as Natasha was concerned. A tall brunette carefully set a guitar next to the middle stool then helped a blond string wires between amps. The third and youngest placed an acoustic bass down, headed off and returned with a stomp box that she plonked next to the left hand stool.

 

“Update from Phil” Melinda said, breaking Natasha’s concentration by waving her phone in front of her face.

**I would take a room full of troubled teens instead of Clint and Bucky hopped up on coffee with access to things that make loud noise. I hate you a little for leaving me here. Pick up milk or face a Sunday without pancakes x**

“I love how withholding pancakes is a big deal in your house” Natasha grinned. She wasn’t surprised that Phil would prefer a group of his students to Clint and co – Phil loved his job. Melinda hummed, a fond expression on her face as she took back the phone.

 

Natasha took a drink of her beer and found herself staring at the middle musician. Tall, dark hair in a ponytail and a slim figure, she was wearing dark jeans that clung to her long legs and a simple shirt. She was bending over her instrument now, softly picking and strumming before turning to listen to something the blond said. She nodded, as did the short haired woman on her other side and the blond stood.

“Ladies and gentlemen” she raised her voice over the hum of the crowd, “I am delighted to introduce you to the first of tonight’s entertainment – Maria Hill, with Meggan McCarthy and myself, Sharon Carter!” she sat with a small flourish that got a laugh from the crowd and an eyeroll from the brunette – Maria. The young woman on the left, who must be Meggan, grinned and counted them in with a strong beat on the stomp box at her feet.

 

They were good. Very good, in fact. Natasha found herself caught up in the clever interpretations and mixes they played. Maria Hill’s long fingers flickered deftly over the strings of her guitar, a small grin playing at the corners of her mouth during the particularly intricate sections. She also sang, with a smooth, rich voice that did unexpected things to Natasha’s heart rate. The blond, Sharon, played rhythm guitar with flare, obviously improvising at times and laughing at the other two’s reactions when she did. Meggan handled the percussion, throwing in the odd bass riff as well as adding backing vocals. Natasha turned to Melinda, who looked impressed.

“There’s no way they will go for this” she murmured.

“They might” Natasha said, eyes back on Maria.

“Hm. Any other obvious women on the list for tonight?” Natasha pushed the set list over and Melinda settled on her stool circling likely acts.

 

The trio’s set was over far too fast for Natasha, and they gracefully surrendered the stage area to a collection of boys who couldn’t be more than 15. Wobbly voices and all. Melinda winced into her beer, stood and went to talk to the barman.

“What was that about?” Natasha asked when she returned.

“Asked him to see if they will come over once they are ready”

“You think they will?”

“Well, I also bought them drinks, so I would say it’s 50:50” Melinda calmly sipped her own drink and turned back to her annotated list. “This one, this one and this one are possibly worth staying for.”

Natasha grinned at her friend, who raised one eyebrow questioningly. “You’re actually getting in to this. Admit it”

Melinda snorted “You aren’t the only competitive one here. I don’t think I could handle Clint if he won. And Phil would be quietly insufferable.”

“He doesn’t have a chance now you have come around” Natasha crowed, saluting Melinda with her glass.

 

“Uh, hi?” Natasha choked on a gulp of beer and turned, coming face to face with the leggy brunette guitarist. She was holding a bottle, as were the two standing behind her.

“Hi! Sorry, hi” Natasha put down her glass and reached out to shake hands.

The tall woman’s lips quirked upwards briefly “I’m Maria. This is Sharon” the blond raised her bottle to Natasha and Melinda with a grin, “and Meg” the younger member of the trio nodded with a more reserved smile.

“Natasha” Nat jabbed her thumb in her chest, “and Melinda” she waved in Melinda’s direction. Melinda smiled coolly.

“Aiden said you wanted to see us. Not that we object to people buying us drinks, but it doesn’t happen that often, so we are a little curious.”

“I have a proposition for you” Maria raised an eyebrow at that. Natasha ran her words back through her mind and blushed. “Shit. Um. Ok. We...” she looked desperately at Melinda who merely smiled at her blandly, enjoying her embarrassment “have a proposal to make. To the three of you. Um. Yeah.” She dropped her head to the table “Oh man, why me...”

 

She looked up at the sound of Sharon chuckling. Maria now had both eyebrows raised and a small smirk played on her lips.

Melinda sighed, patting Natasha on the head patronisingly. “Forgive the grasshopper, she doesn’t function well in company.”

“Rich coming from you” Natasha mumbled.

“Please, sit down.”

 

The three slid onto empty stools around the table, Maria taking a swig from her bottle, appearing to be open to listening to them at least. Sharon reached over to tap her bottle to Nat’s and Melinda’s. Meg jittered in her seat, legs twitching to some internal rhythm until Sharon put a hand on her knee firmly.

“Sorry” she reddened “it takes me a while to calm down after playing.” Natasha nodded understandingly even as Maria kicked her gently, making the young woman wrinkle her nose at her.

 

“So” Sharon said, eying Natasha slyly “I believe you were propositioning one or more of us.”

Natasha raised her hands in mock surrender “I am saying no more, the potential for foot-in-mouth syndrome is far too high. Melinda?”

Melinda rolled her eyes. “We are looking for musicians to form a band for a charity event.”

 

Maria made a small ‘go on’ gesture.

 

“Hard to believe it may be, but grasshopper there got herself in a bit of a situation.”

 

Natasha snorted, and the trio’s eyes flickered to her then back to Melinda.

 

“The gist of it is, due to a drunken bet made with a cocky park ranger, she has to form an all female band with six members and play at the next Stark charity event. Clint, the ranger, will be doing the same, but with all men. Somehow, money will be raised by each band and the one which collects the most, wins.”

 

Sharon and Maria exchanged a glance. “Quite involved for a drunken bet, isn’t it?” Maria said mildly.

 

“Ok, firstly, it was a tipsy bet, not a drunken bet. Secondly, the more alcohol you pour into Clint the bigger his thoughts tend to get. And thirdly, most of this can be blamed on her” Natasha levelled a finger at Melinda, who tipped her head to one side considering.

“She has a point.”

“Is that why you are here? Or are you part of this band?” Sharon asked.

“I can appreciate music...” here Melinda flinched at a particularly sour note from the boy with the mike at the front, “...usually. But don’t ask me to make it. That does not lead to pleasant things. My husband and I were appointed general babysitters and band wranglers.”

“I think Clint used the word ‘agent’” Natasha smirked.

“He may have done” Melinda said dismissively “I didn’t.”

“So, you want the three of us to join you? To win some bet you made with some guy?” Sharon clarified.

“Yes...?” Natasha tried to sound positive about it and failed.

 

The three musicians shared along look, then Maria gave a tiny shrug and Meg a small nod.

 

“Awesome” Sharon smiled happily, “Stark though, Ria. Think you can cope?”

 

Maria growled under her breath and part of Natasha’s brain short circuited at the sound.

 

“The Stark thing isn’t actually confirmed yet. We just can’t see him saying no.”

“Trust me, when he finds out I'm involved he won’t” Maria said wryly.

“You know him?” Natasha asked curiously.

“Mhmm” Maria took another drink. “So what’s your role in this band of yours?”

“I sing.”

“Oh good” Maria let out a huff of relief that ruffled her fringe, “I don’t think I could do that in front of a Stark crowd. Neither would Meg.”

“I would” Sharon said innocently.

“And then everyone would run for the hills” Meg interjected dryly, letting out a yelp as Sharon swatted at her.

“So, you need two more people then?”

“Yup”

 

Meg sat up a little straighter, a gleam in her eye “I think I know someone who might be interested.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a lot more dialogue than I usually write! Hope it's working...
> 
> Meggan's name comes from another Marvel character, but I don't actually know anything about Marvel's Meggan. I just needed another girl :)


	3. Chapter 3 - six

Early on Sunday morning Natasha headed to the small park Meg had described to her the previous evening. It was a chilly morning and she was glad for the coffee she had bought on the way. Up ahead she could see Sharon and Maria waiting for her on a bench, Sharon looking relaxed in a long black coat while Maria perched on the back of the seat with her hands shoved deep into the pockets of her leather jacket. She looked up and spotted Natasha, watching her approach with a tiny smile.

“Morning” she said when Natasha drew close enough.

“Hi” Natasha grinned.

Sharon stood and rolled her eyes “I don’t know what you’ve done to Hill, but this is her practically bouncing with excitement.”

Natasha looked at Maria and raised an eyebrow. The taller woman blushed faintly, but just hopped off the bench gracefully “I'm a morning person Carter. I'm impressed you are even awake at this time.”

Sharon yawned widely “I'm not sure I am very awake.”

Maria snorted and jostled her with a shoulder “Shall we go?” she asked Natasha.

  
“Sure. Where?”

“Meg’s place” With that Maria set off.

“Oy, leggy, slow down” Sharon called as she and Natasha struggled a little to keep up with her long strides.

  
“You were complaining about being cold earlier” Maria said mildly, but she did slow down a bit with an apologetic glance at Natasha.

Meg, it turned out, lived in a block of apartments close to the local university. She answered the door to Sharon’s knock with a grin.  
“Come in”

Natasha could hear someone grumbling in another room as they walked into a small open plan kitchen/diner/living room.

“Stop whining Skye, come be sociable” Meg shouted, tossing a rucksack off the sofa.

A young woman ambled in, long hair messy and eyes a bit bleary “Too damn early to be sociable” she grunted, moving past the huddle of visitors seemingly without noticing them as she headed to the kitchen area.

Meg sighed “Please sit down” she said.

Maria smirked and gesturing for Natasha to take a place on the sofa before sitting next to her. Sharon followed, with a loud “Morning Skye” and laughed at the young woman’s startled jerk.

“Uh, morning Sharon. Maria. Stranger.” She said with an embarrassed nod, before wheeling violently on her flatmate “you could have warned me.”

“I did” Meg said mildly, “go sit, I’ll make coffee.”

Skye ran a hand through her hair and came over, sitting cross legged on a soft chair opposite the sofa. “It’s still too early to be social” she said slightly accusingly to Sharon.

“Natasha’s fault” she said airily. “Natasha, this is Skye, IT genius, student at the university and one of Meg’s flatmates. Skye, meet Natasha, a recent acquaintance who makes bad bets with boys who can’t handle beer.”

“Hi”

“Morning” Natasha smiled at the younger woman, already liking her.

“So why are you here? Now? I mean, not that I don’t like you visiting but Sunday morning? Really?”

“Natasha’s propositioning people” Maria said, straight faced.

Natasha groaned and hid her face in her hands “Can we let that one go?”

“Nope”

Skye looked between the two of them blankly “I'm not following”

Meg came over, carrying mugs of coffee “Skye plays bass” she said, setting the mugs down.

Natasha frowned “We have a bass player. Are you retiring yourself?”

“I prefer drums. Sharon says they are inappropriate for open mike nights, which is why I was on bass last night.”

“Ahhhh” Natasha smiled.

Skye blinked and grabbed some coffee “Still not following”

“I need to form an all female, six member band to play at a charity gig yet to be confirmed in order to win a bet with a friend.”

“The boy who can’t handle beer” Sharon helpfully added.

“Oh” Skype downed half her mug, “cool.”

Natasha felt slightly surprised at her easy acceptance, and turned to Maria.  
“Skye doesn’t say no to bets” she explained.

“Plus, you have these guys as well, right?” Skye said “so you’re gonna win. Of course I'm in.”

“Awesome”

“So how many people have you got then? Am I the last?”

“No. Five. Singer” Natasha pointed herself, then each of the others “lead guitar and backing vocals” Maria gave a mocking bow, “rhythm guitar” Sharon flourished one hand, “and now drums and bass” she finished and Skye held her hand up for Meg to high five.

“So, part B of the recruiting plan” Meg said, looking at Skye, who stared back blankly for a minute before understanding dawned in her eyes.

“Oh no. She won’t go for it”

“She might”

“This is why you got them to come so early. You knew she would be at the lab now!”

“We had to ask you first”

Skye glared over the top of her mug “That's just sneaky.”

“Yes” Sharon agreed. Maria nodded.

“What? Now I'm not following...” Natasha frowned.

 

Just as Sharon opened her mouth to explain the door opened and another young woman walked in. She stopped, looking a little startled to see so many people.

  
“Hello?"

  
“Hey Jemma”

Meg got up and went to make another drink as Jemma unwound herself from layers of scarf and coat. She sat down next to Skye, tucking her hair behind her ear.

Skye smiled at her “How are the bugs?”

Jemma’s face brightened “Bacteria Skye. Thriving. I think the new combination of nutrients in the agar is suiting this strain particularly well.” She looked at Skye’s blank expression and sighed, “They like their new food.”

“Good. The little suckers should, the amount of effort you put into it”

Meg plunked a cup in front of Jemma and plopped down to the floor, leaning against the edge of the sofa.

“Tea?” Sharon asked with a teasing tone

“Naturally” Jemma inhaled the steam gratefully and smiled sweetly at Meg “Thank you. So to what do we owe the pleasure of this visit?” She had a pleasant accent that took Natasha a moment to place: British.

Maria waved at Nat “Jemma, meet Natasha. Natasha, Jemma. Genius in most things, including piano.”

Natasha grinned, “Pleasure to meet you.”

“Likewise” Jemma looked a little suspicious, and Skye shifted closer to her, steeling a sip of tea from her cup.

“Piano, huh?” Natasha raised an eyebrow and looked at the Brit appraisingly.

Now Jemma looked alarmed.

“Maybe tone down the predatory hunter look, hm?” Maria murmured in her ear, sending shivers down her spine.

“Relax babe” Skye said soothingly, “Natasha is forming a band – an unofficial band just for fun and a bet – and she needs one more member. I'm in, so’s Meg and the twin crazies over there.”

Sharon mouthed the word "crazies?" at Maria, with a comically offended look on her face. Maria gave her a 'what can you do' shrug and patted her on the shoulder.

“I play classical piano” Jemma said shaking her head.

“So you could definitely handle a few chords and stuff for some songs” Sharon said.

“We could get you a keyboard” Maria offered with a smile.

Jemma looked sceptical.

“With lots of switches and buttons and fancy effects you can explore” Skye added in a wheedling tone.

There was a moment of silence as all five women stared at Jemma. Finally she threw her head back and groaned “Okay fine. But it better be a good keyboard. And I want to be at the back.”

“We can manage that” Natasha promised, grinning around at her team.


	4. Chapter 4 - Dinner

**Got the job! :-) Nx**

_Well done. Phil says come over for dinner. M_

 

 

When Natasha turned up at the Coulson-May household that evening Phil was creating one of his epic curries. He turned as she bounced in, smiling warmly at her.

“Congratulations! Stark Industries won’t know what’s hit it. Ms Potts is going to be organised to within an inch of her life.”

She beamed and let him give her a one armed, slightly spicy hug and then hopped up onto the side beside him. “So how’s things?” She sat there, listening to Phil talk about work, and his current batch of students at the centre, occasionally stealing slices of vegetable to nibble on.

Not long later Clint bounded down from his attic flat. “I thought I heard Tash – oh, hey stranger”

“It’s been five days Clint” Natasha grumbled good-naturedly, poking him with one foot. He fended her off with a laugh, moving in to tickle her until Phil lost patience and threw them out of his kitchen.

 

By the time Melinda got home Phil was just finishing off preparing dinner and Clint and Natasha had laid the table. She greeted Phil gently, then gave Natasha a rare hug.

“Well done grasshopper” she murmured.

Natasha smiled, blushing slightly at her praise.

"Ready!" Phil called, "everyone to the table!"

 

 

“So, we’ve got both bands, and Natasha has got her job. We should probably think about talking to Stark sometime soon” Melinda said. “Pass the yogurt please Clint.”

“Who’ve you got then?” He asked as he did so.

Natasha took a gulp of water. “An ex-coastie. A police officer. And three students.”

Clint raised his eyebrows and made a go-on gesture.

Nat rolled her eyes. “Maria, use to work for the coast guards, now works in security. Plays guitar. Sharon, police office, also guitar. Meg, studying some sort of deep sea geology, drums. Skye, IT student, bass. And Jemma, studying something biological that I didn’t quite gather, our rather reluctant pianist. Who've you got? Besides Steve and Bucky?”

Clint smirked “Not telling you." Natasha kicked him under the table, making him wince in mock agony.

"So how well do you know them? Are these just randoms off the street?”

“Of course not” Natasha looked offended, “These are randoms from the pub. And we had dinner out last night, so we are somewhere between strangers and aquaintences.”

“Had a practice yet?”

“....no”

“Have you even heard them play?”

“...some of them”

Clint laughed “I am sooo gonna win this” he crowed.

Melinda carefully moved the yogurt away from Natasha.

 

**Going to meet with Stark tmrrw Nx**

_What time?_

**14:00. Why?**

**Why?**

**Why?**

**Mariaaaa, why?**


	5. Chapter 5 - Stark

Stark Towers was very big. Even the holding room for people waiting for appointments was huge, with black leather sofas and large potted plants. Natasha was impressed. Phil looked ever so slightly uncomfortable with the situation, but perfectly at home with the surroundings, sitting down and flicking through a magazine. Melinda was as impassive as usual, wearing a faintly terrifying pantsuit. One wall of the room was glass, giving them a view of the corridor outside. Natasha had finished admiring the room and was starting to people watch through it when she caught a glimpse of a figure striding towards them. Something about that walk was familiar... Just as she placed it the door opened to reveal Maria Hill, dressed in black shirt and pants with her hair twisted up in a sensible bun, holster on one hip and earpiece in place. Natasha couldn’t hold back the wide grin that spread across her face, and was pleased out of all proportion when Maria smiled back.

“Sooo, when you said you worked in security...?”

“I meant in security at Stark Industries, yes.” Maria nodded in greeting to Melinda, and shook hands with Phil who came over to join them.

“Awesome” Natasha smiled happily “So this is how you know Stark.”

“Mhmm. He likes to try and get under my skin” Maria’s wry smile suggested that he is pretty successful with this.

 

A bland looking woman in a suit opened the door “Mr Stark is ready for you now. Please follow me”

She led them through a few corridors to another large room, with the sofas but without the glass wall. They had barely stepped inside when the door was flung open by Tony Stark himself.

 

“Phil! Melinda... It’s been a while” he strode in, practically bursting with energy. Phil grinned and shook his hand while Melinda mearly nodded, though a faint smile flickered over her face. “I hear you have a proposal for me?”

“An opportunity for entertainment and chaos” Melinda said dryly.

Tony beamed “You know me so well.” He turned to Maria and Natasha. “Hill! My favourite bodyguard! Please tell me you are involved in this!” Tony spread his arms widely.

Maria’s answering smile looked slightly pained.

“And you” now Tony’s gaze fixed on Natasha “You I think I know as well.” She opened her mouth to say they had never met, when he continued “Congratulations on your new job, Ms Romanoff” he gave her an appraising look. “It’s a pleasure to meet you” he held out a hand.

“Likewise” Natasha said, slightly surprised at how rough his hands were. She had been expecting a pampered billionaire, not a practical mechanic. And of course he knew who would be working with Ms Potts. Natasha realised that even though he came across as an arrogant letch, Tony Stark was possibly the sharpest man she had ever met. And would keep tabs on anyone working with his girlfriend. And he was an actual genius.

An actual genius who looked like a five year old expecting a visit from Santa. His entire body was animated with excitement, in contrast to Maria who stood stock still as far in the corner as she could without being rude, arms folded.

Stark waggled his eyebrows at her, and turned to Phil, “By any chance...?”

“Banner is involved” Phil clearly knew where his mind was going.

“Banner? Really? Well that can work.... hm. Yes, guys v gals, SI employees on both sides... Yeah, this could be good” Tony nodded, eyes far away.

Natasha breathed a sigh of relief, and saw Phil and Melinda relax. If Stark was on board then this would work.

Tony flung himself down onto one of the sofas and leaned back, looking at Phil and Melinda. “So, what’s the plan?”

“We were thinking three songs each” Melinda said.

“Some way of donating to a pot for each band, to determine the winner” Phil added.

“Make it five songs each” Tony said thoughtfully, “Give it a full half hour per group. You can have the slot between the first demonstration and the auction.” He grinned quickly, “we need to mix things up a bit at these events, and it will be entertaining whether you are good or not.”

“We will be good” Natasha said confidently. She saw Maria compress her lips, probably in an attempt not to laugh.

“You, I like already” Tony said, pointing at her, then he stood and clapped his hands together “I will set a team on it. Is there anything you need, other than a venue?”

Natasha and Melinda exchanged a look.

“Practice rooms would be helpful” Melinda said. Tony nodded.

“And a keyboard. One with all the bells and whistles” Maria added from the corner. Tony looked at her with one raised eyebrow. “It’s not for me” she clarified with a subtle roll of her eyes.

Tony smiled “I can manage those. And Hill, this means I will actually find out something about you! You might turn out not to be a robot after all. No more putting me off” He winked at her, gave a small wave to the others, and left the room almost as fast as he has entered it.

Natasha looked at Maria in shock "Is he always like that?"

Maria gave a soft huff of amusement "Pretty much, yeah. I best get back to work. Lunch hours about up now. See you soon" She smiled at the three of them, her gaze lingering slightly on Natasha, and left much more quietly than Stark had.

 

 

“So that’s Maria” Phil said with a smile as they walked out of the building.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Natasha asked.

“Melinda mentioned that you had a thing for her”

“I do not have a thing for her” Natasha said indignantly.

Melinda snorted.

“Ok, maybe a small thing. But she’s nice! And hot! And funny, smart...” She trailed off, turning to see both Phil and Melinda smiling at her fondly. “Stop it.”

“In fairness, this one does seem nice” Melinda said thoughtfully to Phil

“Good”

 

 

_Stark has given me an address and key to practice rooms at a hall he owns downtown. When do you want to meet? MH_

**Tmrrw? 18:00? I will bring pizza Nx**

_kk. will let the others know. Sharon likes spicy MH_


	6. Chapter 6 - Practice

When Natasha turned up at the address that Maria had told her about the other five were already there and had let themselves in. It looked like an old school, owned by Stark, that was now being used for various community groups. A little bit shabby, but solid and handily close to where they lived.

“We thought this room was probably ours” Maria said when she found which room they were in, pointing over to where Jemma was crooning over a large, complicated looking keyboard. There was a red bow stuck on top of it. “There’s another room just down the corridor with a ‘Phil’s Angels’ sign on it. Stark said we can lock stuff up in the store cupboards if we want to, save carrying it around.”

Natasha chuckled “Stark doesn’t do things by halves, does he?” she said, looking around at the room. There were a few rickety chairs, a table and walk-in cupboards along the back wall. It was big enough, and far enough away from other populated rooms in the building that they wouldn’t disturb other people. Perfect.

“He wouldn’t even know how” Maria came over and relieved her of the pizza boxes she was carrying with a smile. “Hi”

“Hi” Natasha smiled back.

“And hello to everyone else as well” Sharon called from where she was setting up amps, next to where Skye was helping Meg put together her drum kit.

“Hello everyone else” Natasha said, rolling her eyes, “I have spicy pizza, be nice”

“I am always nice” Sharon replied, placing one hand on her chest as if hurt.

“Yeah yeah” Maria grumbled, but good-naturedly. She set the pizza boxes down on the one small table “Eat first?” She was met with enthusiastic nods from the others, and Skye and Meg joined them, grabbing slices and napkins.

“Jemma, come get some food” Skye called.

Jemma waved a hand distractedly.

“Jemma, food now, play later” Skye said, a little more firmly. “Jemma!”

The Brit looked up from the keyboard, startled “What?”

“Come get some pizza”

“Pizza? Brilliant, I'm starving”

Natasha shot a look at Skye, who rolled her eyes “You would think a biochemist would remember to eat, but no, no she does not.”

 

~~

 

Walking home later that night Natasha realised she was happier than she had been in a long time. She had a new job, which promised to be challenging and hopefully rewarding. She had a new group of friends, currently surrounding her in a laughing, teasing mob because they had refused to let her walk home by herself. She had a new hobby, or at least had rediscovered how much she enjoyed music. And she got to enjoy making music with her friends, pushing herself to match their skill in a way that made her blood sing.

 

They had had a good practice, messing around a bit and testing the waters. Obviously Maria, Sharon and Meg played well together (and damn that girl could play the drums! Natasha even thought she was almost a match for Clint, which was saying a lot). Jemma, once she got past her sweet hesitation, had wowed with her skill on the keyboard and had thoroughly enjoyed tinkering around with the effects. Skye was not only good, she had played with Maria and the others before, so slipped easily into the mix. And Natasha had to be honest, she had loved the stunned expressions on all their faces when she started to sing, adjusting her naturally husky mezzo to compliment the guitars.

Once she had finished her first song there had been a moment of quiet, then Sharon had met her eyes with a glint of challenge and started to play Scarborough Fair solo. Natasha had closed her eyes and lost herself in singing the soft melody with as much emotion as she could. When Maria joined in singing the harmony she had looked up, startled and struggled to keep her surprise from colouring her voice. Maria’s eyes had twinkled in response, and she had matched her tone to Natasha’s in a way that had given Natasha goose bumps. Skye and Meg joined them for the final sections and the four of them blended their voices and held the last note as though they had been doing so for years. Sharon had stilled the strings on her guitar, carefully put it down, then jumped up on her chair with a whoop.

“There’s no way we can lose this” She crowed, doing a wobbly sort of victory dance while Jemma had clapped, eyes shining.

 

At this moment, included in this group of women so naturally as they made their ways home through the clear frosty evening, still on a high from what they had achieved, Natasha realised that she didn’t care if they won or not. Right here, right now was perfect.

 


	7. Chapter 7 - Cupboard

Following a practice one rainy afternoon (which had included Skye and Meg acting out scenes from ‘The Lion King’ while Jemma played Elton John with Maria narrating as though they were in a nature documentary, and Sharon and Natasha having a dance off to cheesy 80’s pop) Natasha came to a decision.

“It’s time we checked out the competition” she said, turning to the only member of her band still tidying up with her.

Pausing in stacking chairs Maria looked at her blankly.

Natasha sighed “Let’s go spy on Clint and co.”

“Sure, why not” Maria shrugged, “perfectly normal thing to do. Of course we should spy on your best friend and his mates.”

 

 

Natasha opened the door a crack and checked the guys practice room was empty. Seeing that it was she grinned and opened the door fully, then grabbed Maria’s wrist and pulled her across the room towards the walk in store rooms on the opposite wall. Maria seemed a bit blindsided; watching her with a bemused expression on her face as Natasha rapidly picked the lock and slipped inside. She followed.

“Should I ask where these ninja skills came from?”

Natasha shut the door and pressed her eye to the gap checking how much she could see. “Misspent youth”

She heard Maria hum quietly and cursed herself for letting that slip. She tested different angles until she thought she had found the best position to cover as much of the room as possible.

“Been a while since I was in a closet” Maria said thoughtfully behind her. Natasha turned so fast she felt her neck snap and was met with teasing blue eyes and small smirk. After deliberately holding her gaze for a moment Maria looked around, “It’s a nice closet, don’t get me wrong,” she prodded at a waist high pile of gym mats and hopped up on them, tilting her head, “but how long are we spending in here?”

“Uh... until they turn up to practice. Shouldn’t be long. Clint was aiming to be back before Phil’s hotpot is ready this evening” Natasha swallowed and blinked rapidly, realising how small the cupboard was now that she was in it with Maria. She slid to the floor next to the door. Just resting while they waited for the guys to show up. It had nothing to do with the way her knees didn’t seem to want to hold her anymore. She leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes briefly. She opened them to find Maria watching her. “Stop staring” she said, fighting a blush.

Maria shrugged, the play of her shoulder muscles making Natasha’s mouth go dry “There really isn’t anything else interesting to look at.”

Natasha banged her head against the wall again and chuckled, “God you’re smooth when you want to be.”

“I know” Maria waggled her eyebrows. “Entertain me Romanoff, I'm going to get bored.”

“Maria, what are you suggesting?” Natasha deliberately made her voice sultry, trying to gain back some control of the situation. Epic fail, she realised as Maria’s smile turned distinctly dirty, bringing her blush back in full force. Maria laughed, low in her chest and Natasha just gave up as her brain short circuited.

“If you aren’t ready to play with the big dogs, stay on the porch _Natasha_ ” she drawled, leaning back on her elbows up on her pile of mats.

They stayed quiet for a minute, Natasha trying to get back her focus. Or at least trying to stop focussing on Maria’s arms. Maria was watching her again, but her expression was gentler. “You don’t strike me as someone who gets flustered this easily”

“You don’t strike me as someone who gets bored often” Natasha shot back.

“Maybe I just take opportunities to learn about interesting people”

“Maybe only certain people make me flustered”

“Someone did drag me – literally – into a dark cupboard”

Natasha flushed “Yeah, well apparently I don’t think things all the way through.”

“You mean you aren’t propositioning me?” The brunette had a far too innocent expression on her face.

Natasha opened her mouth but no words came out. She looked helplessly up at Maria who snorted with amusement.

“Relax Nat. I’ll stop now. Promise.”

Natasha just let out a strangled squeak.

 

Luckily at that minute she heard the sound of Clint, Steve and the others coming into the practice room. Maria slid off her perch and after a brief moment they got themselves arranged so that they could both see through the crack in the doors.

“Who’s who?” Maria murmured.

Natasha forced her brain to focus on the guys rather than the heat of Maria’s body next to her. “Clint’s the one waving his arms around. Steve’s the tall blond with the guitar. Then we have Bucky with the faintly ridiculous long hair, Theodore is the blond with the bass and the guy with the glasses and keyboard is Bruce.” Here Maria made a small noise of surprise. “What?”

“I know him. That's Banner. Stark mentioned him, remember? Doesn’t seem like his sort of thing.”

“Clint can be persuasive. The last guy is Sam Wilson, but I don’t know what he plays.”

“He sings” There was a note something Natasha couldn’t identify in Maria’s voice this time. They watched as they set up, joking around and making lots of noise. “So how well do you know these guys?”

“Well, I practically grew up with Clint and Steve.”

“Misspent youth?” There was warm amusement in Marias voice.

“Misspent youth” she agreed. “Bucky was – very briefly – my boyfriend” Maria turned slightly to look at her and raised an eyebrow. Natasha became uncomfortably aware of how close together they were. “I didn’t have a lot of other options available at the time” she shrugged, “Bucky was pretty much the only person around who wasn’t either an asshole or Clint or Steve. Shockingly it didn’t last long.”

“What a surprise” Maria murmured dryly, turning her gaze back on the band outside.

Natasha shifted her weight as if by accident, pressing her hip against Marias leg. “Theodore is known as Thor, he works with Clint at the Park. Tree surgeon I think. I’ve only met Bruce and Sam a couple of times. They’re friends of Steve’s.”

“They work at SI” Maria said.

“Is that how you know them?”

“Yup.”

“Know them well?”

“Not Bruce, I just see him around every so often. I work with Sam.”

“Huh. So can he sing?”

“Unfortunately, yes. Very well.”

 

Natasha muttered under her breath, cursing Clint quietly. The men had finally got themselves organised and started to play. They watched as they ran through a couple of Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith songs. Maria was right, Sam really could sing. She knew that Steve, Clint and Bucky were good, but Thor honestly surprised her, and Bruce was very impressive. Not quite Jemma levels of impressive, but still.

“Well” Maria said quietly once they had stopped for a break “We’ve actually got some competition then.”

Natasha was chewing her lip worriedly. “I think we need to pick some awesome songs.”

**Author's Note:**

> Never written AU before - hope it works!


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